Barringer Family Fund

The Barringer Family Fund for Meteorite Impact Research has been established as a memorial to recognize the contributions of Brandon, Moreau, Paul, and Richard Barringer to the field of meteoritics and the Barringer family’s strong interest and support over many years in research and student education. In addition to its memorial nature, the Fund also reflects the family’s long-standing commitment to responsible stewardship of The Barringer Meteorite Crater and the family’s steadfast resolve in maintaining the crater as a unique scientific research and education site.

Each year, the Barringer Family Fund awards a small number of competitive grants of 2500-5000 USD to support MA, PhD, and postdoctoral students as they carry out field research at known and suspected impact sites around the world. Between its establishment in 2002 and the present, the Barringer Family Fund has supported the research of over 50 students.

You can apply for the Barringer Family Fund by clicking the button below that will redirect you to the electronic application hosted by the Lunar and Planetary Institute.

The Barringer Crater Company and its scientific advisors endorse efforts to make the field of Meteoritics and Planetary Science more welcoming to a diverse array of talented scientists. Since 2002, The Barringer Family Fund for Meteorite Impact Research has awarded almost half of its research grants to women, based on the scientific merits of their proposals and the quality of their work. The Barringer Crater Company has a strong interest in encouraging and supporting scientific exploration and research within the field of meteoritics for women as well as men, and expects all associated scientists to treat their colleagues and students with mutual respect.

2017 Recipients

Kimberley Beaton

University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Project: Investigating the age of impact events using high-precision Lu-Hf and Sm-Nd garnet chronology, in shock-heated crater basement rocks – a case study from the Vredefort Dome

Leticia Pacetta De Marchi

THE METEORITICAL SOCIETY

The Meteoritical Society is a non-profit scholarly organization founded in 1933 to promote research and education in planetary science with emphasis on studies of meteorites and other extraterrestrial materials, including samples from space missions, that further our understanding of the origin and history of the solar system.

To learn more, go to the Meteoritical Society site by clicking the button below.

Annual Meteoritical Society Meetings

Every year, The Barringer Crater Company sponsors the Barringer Medal, the Barringer Invitational Lecture, and travel grants for students to attend the annual Meteoritical Society meetings.

BARRINGER INVITATIONAL LECTURE

Since 1999, the Barringer Crater Company has sponsored a public lecture delivered by an invited speaker at the Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society. These speakers often offer a broader perspective on the role of meteoritics and planetary science in the modern world.

Sen. Harry Schmitt, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Senator Harrison Hagan Schmitt was born in New Mexico and grew up in the American West. He received a bachelor of science degree from the California Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in geology from Harvard based on field work in Norway as a Fulbright Scholar and National Science Foundation Post-Doctorate Fellow. Selected by NASA as a Scientist Astronaut in 1965, Schmitt earned Air Force T-38 jet pilot wings in 1966 and Navy H-13 helicopter wings in 1967. Schmitt flew in space as Apollo 17’s Lunar Module Pilot, landing in the Moon’s Taurus-Littrow Valley on December 11, 1972.

He is the only scientist and last of 12 men to step foot on the Moon. Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate from New Mexico in 1976. As part of his consulting business in aerospace and Earth science, he chaired the NASA Advisory Council from 2005 to 2008. Schmitt has received numerous honorary degrees from U.S. and Canadian universities. From 1996 to 2004, he taught “Resources from Space” at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is an Associate Fellow in the university’s Department of Engineering.

His lecture at the 2017 Meteoritical Society meeting in Santa Fe focused on the scientific discoveries of the moon landings.

Schmitt authored the book Return to the Moon: Exploration, Enterprise and Energy in the Human Exploration of Space, and has published numerous scientific papers related to lunar and planetary geology. He travels extensively internationally as well as domestically. Schmitt lives with his family in the American Intermountain West.

The Barringer Medal

The Barringer Medal and Award recognize outstanding work in the field of impact cratering and/or work that has led to a better understanding of impact phenomena. The Barringer Medal and Award were established in 1982 to honor the memory of D. Moreau Barringer Sr. and his son D. Moreau Barringer Jr. and are sponsored by the Barringer Crater Company. The senior Barringer was the first to seriously propose an impact origin for the crater that now bears his name. For nearly two decades he defended this theory against the vast majority of scientific opinion. The junior Barringer was the first to identify the Odessa crater, the second known impact site on Earth.

2017 Barringer medal recipient: Akira Fujiwara

Akira Fujiwara received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in applied physics from The University of Tokyo, Japan, in 1989,1991, and 1994, respectively. His Ph.D. thesis was entitled "Resonant electron capture in semiconductor quantum wells". In 1994, he joined LSI Laboratories, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Corporation, Kanagawa, Japan. He moved to the Basic Research Laboratories (BRL) in 1996. He was a guest researcher at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, USA during 2003-2004. Since 2006, He is a group leader of Nanodevcies Research Group, NTT BRL. In 2007-2015, He is a Distinguished Technical Member, NTT BRL. Since 2012, he also serves as an Senior Manager of Physical Science Laboratory. Since 2015, He is a NTT Senior Distinguished Scientist. In 2011-2014 he was supported by the funding program for Next Generation World-Leading Researchers (NEXT Program), JSPS.